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Sprint Nextel May Spin Off WiMAX Division, Says Acting CEO

7:35 am on December 5, 2007 | Category: Business, Corporate, Internet, WiMAX, Wireless, Wireless Technology

U.S. wireless carrier, Sprint Nextel, is considering divesting its embryonic WiMAX division as a separate investor-funded company, according to acting CEO and Chief Financial Officer, Paul Saleh.

“We are looking at ways of attracting capital to that [WiMax] business,” Saleh said at a UBS investor conference in New York, noting that the company had set up a team to evaluate options, including the possibility of spinning off the WiMAX unit.

Saleh emphasized that Sprint remained highly committed to the WiMAX market, however, saying that the company’s decision to abandon partnership talks with wireless broadband startup, Clearwire Corp., had been misinterpreted by analysts.

“It was just becoming too complex,” he explained, without going into extensive detail.

Analysts had speculated that Sprint was getting ready to give up on its WiMAX ambitions due to disappointing financial performance in recent quarters, and the dismissal of CEO, Gary Forsee, who had initially spearheaded the WiMAX division.

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